Bill Carroll: #2 of 3 -- A Gospel of freedom, a Gospel of life, a Gospel of peace
Jesus isn’t making this up. Neither is Luke. These are the words of Isaiah the prophet:“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Thus says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, chapters 61 and 58.
These are old words. Ancient words. Words filled with grace and power.
If there’s anything new here at all, it’s the way Jesus applies them to himself. “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”Jesus is the Lord’s Anointed, the Messiah. The Spirit of God rests on him. He brings good news of God’s gracious favor, of God’s justice, of human freedom. In Jesus, God’s Kingdom is at hand.Scandalous enough to claim that kind of thing for himself. And yet Jesus goes further.In Luke, Jesus begins his ministry with a sermon about the ways God acts to save outsiders.“There were many widows in Israel,” says Jesus, “in the time of Elijah, but he went only to a widow in Sidon.”
“There were many lepers in Israel,” says Jesus, “in the time of Elisha, but he healed only Naaman the Syrian.”Our Lord’s first sermon is scandalous, very much like the words of the prophets. Like them, he is nearly killed for his trouble. “But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”
Beloved, the Spirit of God is a wild, uncontrollable Spirit. This Spirit stretches and breaks open God’s people, so that outsiders might come in. This Spirit is holy, unquenchable fire. This Spirit brings life in the midst of death to poor and oppressed people everywhere.
It spoke by the prophets. It rests on Jesus…….It also rests on US.
Brothers and sisters, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever. May we preach the same good news for which he lived and died. A Gospel of freedom, a Gospel of life, a Gospel of peace. Amen.
These are old words. Ancient words. Words filled with grace and power.
If there’s anything new here at all, it’s the way Jesus applies them to himself. “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”Jesus is the Lord’s Anointed, the Messiah. The Spirit of God rests on him. He brings good news of God’s gracious favor, of God’s justice, of human freedom. In Jesus, God’s Kingdom is at hand.Scandalous enough to claim that kind of thing for himself. And yet Jesus goes further.In Luke, Jesus begins his ministry with a sermon about the ways God acts to save outsiders.“There were many widows in Israel,” says Jesus, “in the time of Elijah, but he went only to a widow in Sidon.”
“There were many lepers in Israel,” says Jesus, “in the time of Elisha, but he healed only Naaman the Syrian.”Our Lord’s first sermon is scandalous, very much like the words of the prophets. Like them, he is nearly killed for his trouble. “But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”
Beloved, the Spirit of God is a wild, uncontrollable Spirit. This Spirit stretches and breaks open God’s people, so that outsiders might come in. This Spirit is holy, unquenchable fire. This Spirit brings life in the midst of death to poor and oppressed people everywhere.
It spoke by the prophets. It rests on Jesus…….It also rests on US.
Brothers and sisters, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever. May we preach the same good news for which he lived and died. A Gospel of freedom, a Gospel of life, a Gospel of peace. Amen.
posted by SUSAN RUSSELL at 11:43 AM
1 Comments:
Why is it limited to just "human freedom"?
I read the passage with great hope for all creation and not just us -- as a mission statement for people like me who care about the oppressed and the captives, regardless of their species.
To quote +KJS from her sermon at General Convention,
"Can we dream of a world where all creatures, human and not,
can meet each other in a stance that is not tinged with fear?"
Yes! We can dream of such a world along with its implications for what we'd need to do to make it happen, and then we can wake up, and act.
Signing off as "anonymous", because I have trouble registering on these blog sites.
Sue
Post a Comment
<< Home